The second month is upon us and we don't know what to do with ourselves. In between work and school, including many other endeavors, we don't reflect on how much time really passes us by. There are 744 hours, 44,640 minutes, and 2,628,000 seconds in one month. I bet each one of us spent most of that time working instead of playing. In my class, Learning Strategies, I learned a valuable skill in time management. Plan everything that you do in a week against how many hours you have available and see where all your wasted time is going.

Readers, I would like each of you to create a chart this week. You can be a pro and create a simple spreadsheet in Access or you can be old-fashioned and write it down on a sheet of paper. Listing everything you do in a typical week, including all those times you feed your cat. As long as it's consistent, that is. Next, record how many projected hours you wish to spend on each task. Finally, leave blanks for the actual amount of time you spent doing it each day. At the end of the week, you will finally know how many hours you spent watching TV instead of studying or on Facebook games instead of writing. Believe me, I've changed my ways since. :)

Sigh! Now doesn't that feel better knowing you actually DO have free time?

Updates:1) I've sent out maybe 5 queries so far and I've received 2 rejections already! No, I'm not proud, but every time I receive a rejection I feel more empowered to try harder! There's just 35 more queries waiting to be sent...and hopefully NOT rejected.2) A Day in the Park - A Jane Austen Parody- is completed and ready to be edited. There are many mistakes in prose and I surely wouldn't wish anyone to change my hidden meanings, but why not make it sound like a normal short story? I'm sure the editors will love it even more that way!3) The Midnight Tree - My short story for Writer's Digest- is almost near completion. After discovering it can be up to 4,000 words, I became a little bit too excited and now I wish to make it much longer.

I hope this month you spend more time with loved ones and that all your resolutions come true! (Don't give up within the first three months. Big mistake.)